Biomass yields, reproductive fertility, compositional analysis and genetic diversity of newly developed triploid giant Miscanthus Hybrids

Miscanthus ×giganteus (giant miscanthus) is a naturally occurring hybrid that has shown promise as a bioenergy/biomass crop throughout much of the temperate world.  Allotriploid (2n = 3x = 57) hybrids of M. ×giganteus, resulting from crosses between tetraploid M. sacchariflorus (2n = 4x = 76) and diploid M. sinensis (2n = 2x = 38), are particularly desirable due to their low fertility that minimizes reseeding and potential invasiveness. However, there is limited genetic diversity in commonly grown cultivars of triploid M. ×giganteus and breeding and development efforts to improve and domesticate this crop have been minimal. Here, we report on newly developed M. ×giganteus hybrids compared to the industry standard M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Dry biomass yields of new hybrids ranged from 19.5 to 32.4 Mg/ha per year for the fourth growing season, compared to 21.0 Mg·ha−1 for M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Plant reproductive fertility remained low for all accessions with overall fertility [(seed set · seed germination)/100] ranging from 0.3 to 4.5% for new hybrids compared to 0.4% for M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Culm density and height varied among accessions and were positively correlated with increased biomass. Based on compositional analyses, theoretical ethanol yields ranged from 9,740 to 16,278 L/ha for new hybrids compared to 10,406 L/ha for M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Relative feed value (RFV) indices were low overall and ranged between 66.0 and 72.8 for new hybrids compared to M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’ with 71.3. The genetic diversity of new hybrids, compared to existing cultivars, was characterized using whole genome sequences. Based on pair-wise distances, cluster analysis clearly showed increased diversity of new hybrids compared to earlier selections. These results document new triploid hybrids of M. ×giganteus with enhanced biomass and theoretical ethanol yields in combination with broader genetic diversity and low reproductive fertility.